State to eliminate half of parole agents

Friday

Sep 9, 2011 at 6:03 AMSep 9, 2011 at 2:01 PM

BEATRIZ E. VALENZUELA and NATASHA LINDSTROM

As the state gets set to release thousands of prisoners in the next few weeks as a way to decrease the state's prison population, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation may be looking to cut local parole positions by nearly half in the next year and others fear local agencies may not be ready for the surge.

According to a document released by the Department of Adult Parole Operations, 841 parole employees statewide may be terminated by September 2013. Of those, nearly 30 positions would be eliminated from San Bernardino County parole offices, including 18 parole agents.

There have even been rumblings of eliminating the mental health aspect of state parole, according to someone within the agency who asked not to be identified. This could have negative implications as many of those placed on parole have mental health issues and can become violent, the source said.

There are currently 32 agents at the Victorville parole office, which monitors parolees from the Cajon Pass to the Arizona and Nevada borders.

Part of the layoffs fall in line with the recently-passed legislation that would shift the responsibility of monitoring low-level offenders from the state level to the local level. But despite not having to keep track of the non-violent offenders, parole agents will still have to monitor high-level parolees.

According to AB 109, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown earlier this year, non-violent, low-level offenders will no longer be the responsibility of state parole officers and will be monitored by local agencies such as San Bernardino County Probation and possibly the Sheriff's Department. Another part of the bill would require qualifying offenders to finish out their sentences in county jails.

To read more about possible parole cuts, see the full story in Friday's Daily Press. Get the complete story every day with the "exactly as printed" Daily Press E-edition, only $5 per month! Click here to try it free for 7 days. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006 or click here.

Beatriz E. Valenzuela may be reached at (760) 951-6276 or at BValenzuela@VVDailyPress.com.